Apparatus for softening paper.



- PATENTED JULY 23,: 1907.

T. 'SGHERP. APPARATUS FOR SOFTENING PAPER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 19, 1906.

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T. SGHERF.

APPARATUS FOR SOFTENING PAPER. APPLICATION IILBD mm: 19, 1906.

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THEODORE SGHERF, OF ENGLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR SOFTENING PAPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1907.

Application filed June 19,1906. Serial NO- 322,481.

To a whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE SCHERF, a citizen of the United States, residing at Englewood, in tlie county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Softening Paper, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad to the drawings accompanying and forming part of the same.

In numerous uses to which paper is put it is desirable that the paper be as .pliable or soft as possible, consistent with the strength necessary for the given purpose. For example, a paper bag should be made of paper possessing a considerable degree of pliability or softness. A bag made of such paper conforms more closely to its contents, thereby distributing the weight or pressure of the contents more evenly, and its mouth is more easily gathered or folded by the hand and can be more securely closed, as is particularlydesirable where the contents or the bag are of a powdered or granular charactcr. Paper to be wrapped around electrical conductors or other parts of electrical apparatus for the purpose of insulating the same should also be soft and pliable. Such paper conforms more closely to the contour of the object to be covered, and the Work of wrapping or covering can be done more easily and rapidly.- Paper for the manufacture of artificial or imitation leather should also be of the same soft and pliable character to produce the most effective imitation of the natural article, both for the desired flexibility and to permit the production of embossed patterns without cracking or tearing under the pressure of the embossing dies. Numerous-other uses might be mentioned where paper of the character described is desirable, but those mentioned are sufficient to show its wide and diversified field of utility. Practically all the papers now made, however, which possess the tensile-strength necessary for their manifold uses, possess also an undesirable degree of stiffness, which does .not permit them to bend readily and frequently causes then rto form hard creases or folds when bent on an arc of short radius, or to become creased or wrinkled in handling. This lack of pliablity is a serious drawback for many purposes for which the paper is used, as already pointed out, and efforts have therefore been made to provide means for eradicating this objectionable stiffness and imparting to the paper the much desired softness and pliability. So far as I am aware, however, none of the previous efforts in this direction has been wholly successful in practice.

l have therefore been led to devise my present invcntion, which has for its chief object to provide an apparatus or machine for treating paper and giving it practically any desired degree of softness and pliability. A further object is to provide a machine, for the purpose mentioned, which shall be simple in construction and rapid and efficient in operation.

In carrying out the invention in the preferred form I rovide one or more crim in r mcchanisms each consisting, preferably, of a pair of corrugated or bladed rolls, intermeshing to a greater or less depth. The rolls are rotated at suitable speed, and the paper is passed between the same, so as to be subjected to their crimping or corrugating action, with the result that the paper is bent sharply back and forth at more or less closely adjacent points over its entire extent. The natural effect of such treatment would be to produce alternate ribs and grooves, but this effect is prevented by causing the paper to pass through the rolls at a rate of speed somewhat greater than the peripheral speed of the rolls, as by winding it on a drum or roller which rotates faster than the said crimping or breaking rolls. Consequently there is a positive slip or drag of the paper over the breaking or crimping blades, so that the successive bends produced by the intermeshing blades are smoothed out as fast as they are formed, leaving the paper perfectly smooth, but in a soft and pliable condition.

A simple machine of this'charactcr is illustrated in the annexed drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 isa detail view showing the action of the crimping or breaking rolls. Figs. 3 and 4 are transverse sectional views on lines IIl.-III., and IV.-IV., respectively. Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of the sprcadcrs interposed between the sets of breaking rolls to prevent wrinkling of the paper.

The breaking oricrimping rolls A, journaled in side frames B; B, are provided with radial breaking, crimping, or kneading blades (1, and are arranged in pairs, as shown. The firstpair or set, at the left of the machine as viewed in Fig. 1, intermcsh to a slight depth while the other sets intermesh to successively greater depths. Extending longitudinally of the machine, and mounted on bearings carried by arms I) projecting from the side frame B, is a driving shaft 0, providedat points immediately below the rollsets with driving worms or screws 0, and at one end with a driving pub ley c. The worms or screws 1; mesh with worm gears c on the lower breaking rolls, While on the same shafts as the latter are gears c which mesh with similar gears c on the shaftsof the upper rolls. The driving mechanisms just described are preferably of the same size and proportions, so that all the rolls will be rotated at the same speed. It is also desirable that the teeth on the roll-driving gears be in register with the blades on the rolls, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, so that the proper lateral spacing of the blades on one roll relative to those on the other will be positively maintained.

at the leftof the machine are standards or supports,

f at one end thereof.

one of which is shown in Fig. 1 at D, in which is journaled a shaft or mandrel (I for carrying the roll of paper E which is to be softened. At the other end of the machine is a winding drum F, mounted on similar standards or supports f and provided with a driving pulley The ,driving shaft 0 being rotated, preferably by means of the mechanism hereafter described, the web of paper E is introduced between the first set of breaking or kneading rolls, and is carried thereby to the next set, and'so on through the succeeding sets.- Issuing from the last set the paper is carr ed to the winding drum F, on which it is wound.

The action of the breaking or kneading rolls is illustrated in Fig. 2, in which it will be seen that the effect of the blades is to bend the paper more or less sharply overthe cooperating blades, first in one direction and then in the other. The natural result of such action would be to leave the paper in a corrugated or crimped condition, but such a result is prevented, as previously stated, by drawing the paper through the rolls at a higher rate bf speed than that at which it would travel if carried forward only by the rolls themselves. Hence the paper is not only bent over the blades in succession, but is also drawn firmly over their edges. This slip of the paper relative to the blades causes the line of fold over the edge of each blade to move slowly backward until the blade is by the rotation of the roll carriod out of contact with the paper. In the meantime the paper is engogedby succeeding blades of the two rolls, and the action just described is repeated on each blade, so that, even if but one set of rolls were employed, every portion of the paper would in passing through the same be subjected to one or more such kneading or breaking and drawing actions and would be thereby reduced to a relatively soft and pliable condition. I prefer, however, to employ, several sets of rolls, for example four, 'as shown. The first rolls intermosh with each other to a comparatively slight depth, and their effect on the paper is correspondingly less than would be the case if they interineshed to a greater extent. The rolls of the remaining sets interniesh to successively greater depths, with correspondingly greater effects on the paper, and the latter is thus brought gradually to the desired degree of softness and pliability. The use of more than one set of rolls also insures that every portion of the paper is acted on sew eral times, so that one passage of the paper through the rolls will bring it to the desired condition; whereas with a single set, a very stiff paper might have to be passed several times through the same.

Since the degree of softness and pliability imparted to the paper depends on the amount of working or kneading to which it is subjected, it is clear that the final condition of the paper can be varied practically as desired by varying the extent to which the knead ing rolls interniesh. Substantially equivalent results can be obtained in a machine in which several sets of rolls are used, as in the drawings, by removing the last set, or the last two sets, etc, thereby reducing by so' much the total working or kneading action.

It is clear that in any case the tension required to draw the paper through the rolls should be well within the tensile strength of the paper, to avoid rupture of the same. Consequently therolls must not inter machine illustrated, the paper is drawn through the rolls by rotating the winding drum at a higher peripheral speed than that of the rolls,- the speed of the former being of course not so great as to produce a ten- 7 sion greater than the paper can stand.- But as the I diameter of the roll on the druni increases the speed of travel of the paper and the tension thereon of course also increase. Hence it is essential that either the speed of drum be decreased or that of the kneading rolls increased, so that the friction of the paper on the roll blades will be approximately constant. The lat ter method is in some respects preferable, the mech anisrn therefor being quite simple, and I therefore employ the same in the machine illustrated. For this purpose I suspend a friction roller G at the lower ends of hangers g, g, piv oted at their upper ends-to a transverse shaft G. The roller is arranged to bear firmly against the roll of paper-on the winding drum,

so as to be rotated by frictional contact with the paper, and carries at one end a pulley 9 connected by a belt g with a pulley g on the shaft G. On the same shaft, alongside of the last mentioned pulleyis another pulley 5/", connected by a belt g with a pulley on a second shaft, G The latter shaft also has a pulley 9 connocted by a belt g -witn the pulley on the adjacent end. of the driving shaft. It is clear that in this construction the speed of the driving shaft, and the kneading rolls, depends upon the peripheral speed of the roll of paper on the winding drum, and that as the speed of the paper increases, on account of the increas- I chine the tension on the paper remains about the same and likewise its slip over the kneading blades, Keeping the slip substantially constant is advantageous in at least one other particular also, in that the effect on the paper is thereby made practically uniform, which would not be the case if the slip were materially' altered.

Any tendency of the paper to wrinkle or fold longitudinally-after leaving the supply roll may be counteracted by suitable spreaders H, located at therear of the several sets of kneading rolls, as shown in Fig. 1. The spreaders are higher at their centers than at their ends, as will be seen in Fig. 5, with the result that the paper in passing over the spreaders is subjected to a slight transverse tension, which effectually prevents the formation of longitudinal wrinkles or folds.

As is well known, some papers, particularly the heavier kinds, are formed by uniting two or inore layers or films of pulp in the wet state. Thus united the several layers form a single, firm sheet of paper. The action of the kneading rolls on such paper is not only to render the paper .soft and pliable in the manner described, but also to loosen the layers from each other at numerous points, leaving thorn adhering at inter means whereby this effect, that is, the loosening of the la yers composing the sheet, can be utilized to good advantage for the manufacture of imitation leather. For this purpose I provide, at the end of the machine adjacent to the winding drum, a number of transverse bars, .I, II, J, J two or more of which are lbcated in different horizontal planes. The paper issuing from the last set of rolls passes under the lirst bar, J, up-.

ward over the second, J, down and under the third, .I, and over the fourth, J to the winding drum. The el'lect of these bars, which are of comparatively small diameters, and of course smooth enough to allow the paper to move over them Without undue friction, is to produce the blisters mentioned above and then lold down the bulged portions of the layer, l'orming slight ribs or ridges across the sheet. Thus when the paper reaches the first bar, the upper layer will bulge innardly, that is, upwardly, wherever it is loosened from the lower layer. But in passing under the bar the pressure thus produced on the blister folds that part of the layer backward and presses it lirmly down on the other layer. At the nextbar the lower layer becomes the in ncrmost, and the blisters formed therein are folded backward as in the first layer a1id--formed into ribs or ridges. This blistering and folding action is again produced on both sides of the paper by the third and fourth bars, on loosened portions of the layers that may not have been affected by the first bars, or on portions which may have been loosened by the first bars. In

this way each side of the sheet is marked with ribs,

or ridges extending in a direction substantially parallel with the bars which produce them, of varying lengths and varying distances apart. With bars arranged parallel to each other the effect is very much like o-cnlled straight grained morocco; but if the bars urc arranged at angles to each other, for example the ribs produced by one bar will cross those produced by the bar or bars which are set at an angle thereto, and the result will be a very lair imitation oi alligator skin. The various ribbed effects are much desired in imitation leather, and heretofore it has been necessary to produce the ribs by embossing, which is liable to tear or cut the paper or at least weaken it at the ridges or ribs so formed. The means which I employ for producing the ribbed or grained effect has no tendency to tear or cut the paper and does not weaken it to any degree that '1 am able to detect. The ribbing process appears to shorten the paper somewhat and also make it slightly heavier or thicker. The effect of the ribbing bars of course does not depend upon any particular kind of devices for separating the layersol' the paper.

In general, paper treated by my invention will be lound to bc singularly soft and pliable, with the stiffness and slight springiness or resiliency, due to the sizing, entirely eradicated; although the strength of the paper, which is due in large measure to the sizing, i not materially impaired, if at all. All kinds of paper, issuing from the kneading devices, will be found to have perfectly smooth surfaces, even the multilayer paper referred to above, the ribbed effect being produced in the latter by the ribbing bars above described. I

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that the invention can be embodied in variety of ways.

For example, it will be apparent from Fig, 2 that substantially the same results would be produced if the rolls were stationary, as would be the case if the belt 9 were thrown off the pulley on the driving shalt. In fact several spaced blades might be arranged in two straight rows, one above the other, with the blades of one row projecting into the spaces between the blades in the other row. The chief advantage of revolving blades over stationary blades for the 'purpose resides in the fact that the former type of machine has a much greater output, [or the reason that with stationary blades the actual speed of the paper is the same as its movement relative to the blades, and hence must be comparatively low to avoid tearing, or straining the paper unduly; whereas with revolving blades the actual speed of the paper may be much greater than the slip since the blades are themselves advancing. e

Other modifications might be mentioned, but those referred to are sufiicient to make it clear that the invention is not confined to theparticular machine herein specifically described.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine for softening paper, the combination of kneading rolls, between which the paper passes, and means for drawing the paper between the rolls to cause slip of the paper relative to the portions of the rolls en ring the same, as set forth.

a In a machine for softening paper, the combination of kneading rolls havinginter-meshing blades, and means for drawing the paper between the rolls to produce a positive slip over the edges of the blades thereon, as set forth.

3. in a machine for softening paper, the combinationol kneading rolls, between which the paper passes, means "for rotating the rolls, and means for causing the paper to travel between the rollsht a higher speed than the poripheral. speed of the rolls, as set forth.

, 1. In :1 machine for softening; paper, the combination of kneading rolls, between which the paper is passed, means for rotating the rolls, and a winding drum rotating at a higher peripheral speed than the rolls, to receive the paper therefrom, as set forth.

5. In a machine for softening paper, the combination of kneading rolls, between which the paper" is passed, and a winding drum to receive the paper from the rolls, operatinc at a speed suflicient to draw the paper between the rolls and produce a positive slip of the paper relative to the portions of the paper engaging the same as setforth.

U. in a machine for softening paper/the combination of kneading rolls having intcrmeshing' blades adapted to produce successive folds in the paper passing between them, and means for producing movement of the paper relative to the blades, as set forth.

7. In a machine for softening paper, the combination of rolls for kneading the paper and feeding it forward, and menus foi'.causir1g the paper to travel :it higher speed than the feed of the rolls, as set forth.

8. In a machine for softening paper, the combination of a plurality of sets of kneading rolls, through which the wiper passes, and means l I Ol' causing the paper to travel at a higher speed than the peripheral speed of the-rolls, as

set forth.

9. In a machine for kneading paper, the combination of a plurality of bladed rolls arranged in sets intermeshing :it successively greater depths, and means for rotating the rolls, as set fortln/ 10. In a machine for softening paper, the combination of a plurality of bladed rolls arranged in sets inter-meshing :it successively greater depths, between which rolls the paper passes, means for rotating the rolls, and means for producing movement of the paper relative to the blades or the rolls, as set forth.

11. In u machine for softening paper, the combination of kneading rolls between which the paper passes, means .tension on the 12. In a machine for softening paper, the combination of kneading rolls between which the paper passes, means for causing the paper to travel at a higher speed than the peripheral speed of'the rolls, and a transverse spreader engaging the paper to exerntension on the paper trans verse to its line of travel, as set forth.

13. In a machine for softening paper, the coinhination of a plurality of sets of kneading rolls between which the paper passes, means for causing the paper to travel at a higher speed than the peripheral speed of the rolls, and one or more transverse Spreaders engaging the paper to exert tension on the paper transverse toits line of travel;

as set forth;

14. In a machine for softening paper, the combination of kneading rolls, between which the paper passes, a winding drum to receive the paper from, the rolls, and means for rotating the rolls and, drum with a constant difierence of speed, as set forth.

15. In a machine for softening paper, the combination of kneading rolls, between which the paper passes, a

- set forth.

winding drum to take up the paper from the rolls, and means for rotating the said rolls at a uniform speed relatlve to the take-up of the paper by the winding drum, as set forth.

16. In a machine forsoftening paper, the combination of kneading rolls, between which the paper passes, a winding drum to take up the paper from the rolls. a trio tion roller bearing on the papelon the drum, and means for driving the said kneading rolls from said friction roller, as set forth.

17. The combination of means for loosening or separating portions of the layers of multilayer paper, and means for producing folds in loosened or separated portions of the said layers, as set forth.

18. The combination of means for loosening or separating portions ofthe layers of multilayer paper, and a plurality of bars engaging the paper and producing olds in loosened or separated THEODORE SCHERF.

Witnesses;

Join: DEVEE, WARREN MARIE.

portions of the said layers, as I 

